Interested in public policy, the DC budget, research and information to inform and improve the caliber of public policy discussions or advocacy? This is the place for you: information and intelligence that improves advocacy is the stock in trade of this blog.

... five successful women have one thing in common: They aren't about to let their size define their worth... The video's powerful one-liners will remind you that you shouldn't wait to start loving and appreciating it for all it can do.

Which supportive services are most critical to success in job training programs?

How widely available are these supports?

Is there evidence that supportive services improve outcomes?

What are some strategies for increasing the impact and leveraging resources to access support services?

There is no recording of the webinar on the website but the presentation (PDF) is available. In it you will find data that can be used to identify the needs met and unmet of job training program participants. An example of data from the research is shown below.

Please pitch us your idea, and briefly explain your reasoning. We will pick the most promising suggestions and ask readers to vote, and then we will report, write and publish an editorial on the winning topic.

WaPo is game for national, international, and DC region pitches. So start submitting!

The tragedy made a lasting impact on Mendelson – as it did on many families living in DC at the time. The shooters and victims were all very young, mostly teenagers. He learned that two of the young perpetrators were brothers with a long criminal history.

"I thought at the time: what is going on that two kids, two brothers are out there shooting people? Clearly something was going on in that home. We should have intervened long before, we should have been knocking on their door," he says.

"It got me thinking."

Mendelson’s search for solutions led him to believe in intervening earlier in a child’s life. As leader of the Council’s Judiciary Committee, he focused on preventing the school-to-prison pipeline by identifying children who were chronically truant and intervening before problems grew.

the city's teen birth rate is at the historic low of 28 births per thousand girls 15 to 19 years old according to KIDS COUNT Data Book, released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. www.aecf.org/2016db

Children born into families started by teens face serious obstacles that include family instability leading to involvement with the juvenile justice and foster care systems, school failure and persistent poverty.

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Ryan Hughes To 7 - 6/20 - Ryan Hughes is the newest reporter hired by Sinclair's Channel 7/WJLA. He comes from WFMZ-TV in Allentown PA, where he's worked since 2011. Before that, he was at Salisbury's Channel 47/WMDT.....

The don't-needs include milestone stickers ("These stickers are adorable (and super helpful if your 9-month-old is in Pharma sales but otherwise you can live without them.)"), belly casting kit, Baby Bullet ("Not denying that this is adorable but it appeared to just be a small blender with a smiley face on it and is there a reason you can’t just draw a face on the blender you already have at home?"), and a banana saver.

Some of the must-haves are humility, patience, tenacity, a sense of humor, and perspective.

Adding activities to the calendar. Organizations of all kinds and communities are encouraged―read, do it!―to add their child- and youth-appropriate activities to the summer.dc.gov calendar (DME adds it to the map automatically).

Interested in learning something? A skill, information? Read The 49 best free websites and apps to learn something new. Some of what you will find on this list in the categories of online courses, get healthier, coding, languages, career and social skills, making things, general information (facts, etc.), and fun stuff.

CourseBuffet curates online courses offered by universities from efforts such as Udemy

Sixty-nine percent of respondents said they are either "living comfortably" or "doing okay," up 4 percentage points from 2014 and up 6 percentage points from 2013. Seventy-seven percent of non-retired adults without a disability are confident that they have the skills necessary to get the kind of job that they want now--an increase of 10 percentage points from the 2013 survey results.

Forty-six percent of adults say they either could not cover an emergency expense costing $400, or would cover it by selling something or borrowing money

As troubling as the $400 problem is, consider these results:

"Twenty-two percent of respondents experienced a major unexpected medical expense that they had to pay out of pocket in the prior year, and 46 percent of those who say they had a major medical expense report that they currently owe debt from that expense."

"Forty-six percent of adults desired additional credit in the prior year, and 40 percent of those who desired credit say that they faced a real or perceived difficulty in accessing credit."

"Just 16 percent of young adults (ages 25 to 34) whose parents both have only a high-school degree or less completed a bachelor's degree, whereas 65 percent of young adults with a parent who completed a bachelor's degree have completed one themselves."

"Thirty-one percent of non-retired respondents report that they have no retirement savings or pension at all, including 27 percent of non-retired respondents age 60 or older."

All the survey topics―income and savings, economic preparedness, banking and credit, housing and living arrangements, car purchasing and auto lending, education and human capital, education debt and student loans, and retirement―are public policy-related, with local and national implications.

A special summer solstice. In the northern hemisphere, today is the longest day of the year—and in a rare coincidence, it also features a strawberry moon. The two haven’t come together in decades. For those without a clear view, the phenomenon can be observed via an online livestream.

Speaking of the summer burst in legislative activity, looking at the next several weeks, the Council plans to hold nearly weekly Legislative Meetings, with up to three to be held prior to the July 15 recess.

On June 21, the Committee of the Whole will meet, and potentially an Additional Legislative Meeting will be held. At that meeting, the second vote on the Budget Support Act could occur, as could the second vote on the minimum wage legislation.

On June 28, another Legislative Meeting will provide an additional opportunity for the second vote on the minimum wage legislation. It will also allow for first votes on any legislation that faced hearings and markup since the budget season ended.

Finally, on July 12, the last Legislative Meeting prior to recess will be held. At this meeting, second votes on any legislation the Council wants to see passed prior to the fall will be held.

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Malcolm Gladwell has launched the podcast Revisionist History. Gladwell will consider "overlooked or misunderstood people, places and events from the past." (FishbowlNY) The series launched June 16 and will run for 10 weeks with a new episode every Thursday.

Kavitha Cardoza Leaves WAMU - 6/13 - DCRTV hears that education reporter Kavitha Cardoza (right) is leaving American University public radio news talker WAMU, 88.5, to be a multimedia reporter at Education Week, edweek.org, which produces reports for "PBS Newshour" and documentaries for PBS. Cardoza joined WAMU in 2008, and, before that, worked at the University Of Illinois' public radio outlet WUIS in Springfield, Illinois. She was also an adjunct faculty member for the university's Department Of Communication. While at WAMU, her five-part series on childhood obesity won a first place award from the Chesapeake Associated Press Broadcasters Association.....

You don't have to be a GIS expert to attend. I've gone and learned lots of useful information and made contacts with people in and out of DC government who are willing to help or just generally good to know.

As you can see from the agenda (PDF), some important topics will be discussed including DC government's open data policy, the role of GIS in economic development, and highlights of the government's open data catalog.

Jeremy Vest, top YouTube for business experts, will lead the webinar How to Use YouTube for Nonprofit Donations Tuesday, June 21 from 12:30 - 1:30 pm. The agenda for the webinar includes answering the questions "What type of video content should my nonprofit create?", "What is the Google for Nonprofits program and how do I apply?", and "What are the steps to optimizing a YouTube video?".

There was a kid running at the neighborhood pool the other day. The pool attendant asked him to walk — as pool attendants have done since pools existed. The boy's dad — a big-chested, serious kind of guy — came over to the attendant and told him (I swear I'm not making this up), that as the child’s father, he's the only one to tell his kid what to do, and that if the attendant has something to say, it should be directed at him, don't talk to his kid; he'll decide if his kid needs direction.

And the very best part:

I don't mean to brag, but my high schooler fails at quite a few things. None of them too epic, but there's still time. We talked about it recently. I told him it's my job to let him fail while he’s still at home with me, because he needs to learn how to lose his shit and then pick it up and move forward.

No Blocking: broadband providers may not block access to legal content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices.

No Throttling: broadband providers may not impair or degrade lawful Internet traffic on the basis of content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices.

No Paid Prioritization: broadband providers may not favor some lawful Internet traffic over other lawful traffic in exchange for consideration of any kind—in other words, no “fast lanes.” This rule also bans ISPs from prioritizing content and services of their affiliates. The bright-line rules against blocking and throttling will prohibit harmful practices that target specific applications or classes of applications. And the ban on paid prioritization ensures that there will be no fast lanes.

Naturally, ISPs opposed the rules and challenged the FCC. The Hollywood Reporter explains in Appeals Court Upholds Net Neutrality Rules the challenge: it was about the FCC's classification of the internet as a utility.

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

My go-to online design tool Canva has just announced the addition of presentation layouts. Choose from cute, professional and modern styles and a range of themes including marketing, environmental, creative, and special events.

In addition to plain old text, users may add videos, images, and webpages; change colors and typefaces; and more!

Celebrating Flag Day, the Council of the District of Columbia will re-hang the large District flag that once hung outside the Council Chamber. The installation takes place at Noon. The flag has been professionally cleaned and conserved.

No formal ceremony is planned for the re-hanging of the flag. More information about the flag, archival news coverage, and photos will be available later today.

WTTG, Fox5, is expanding its local and national election on July 18 with '5 @ 6:30.' The new program will run from 6:30 - 7:00 pm Monday through Friday. Shawn Yancy and Jim Lokay will host and Tom Fitzgerald and Ronica Cleary will contribute. When the team is not at the national conventions, they will be broadcasting from Old Ebbit Grill.

OCP staff will be on hand to answer questions on how businesses can do business with the DC government. Tag @DCGOV_OCP and use the hashtag #ASKOCP. OCP will answer questions using @DCGOV_OCP and #OCPANSWERS.

Democratic voters in D.C. will finally get to weigh in on the presidential nomination process when the city conducts its primary elections this week. Many voters throughout the region, in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, are already voicing frustrations about whether local election systems have prevented their choices from being truly meaningful. As part of NPR’s series, "A Nation Engaged," guest host Marc Fisher explores the primary process from a regional perspective with a local Republican delegate and Democrat superdelegate.

WAMU's Patrick Madden received the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize in May for "Assault On Justice." The project analyzed close to 2,000 DC cases with APO (assault on a police officer) charges. WBUR had this to say about Madden's work:

"Patrick Madden's story 'Assault on Justice' is a power-packed 16 minutes of on-air reporting with an equally strong result online," said Margaret Low Smith, President, AtlanticLIVE, who served as the prize’s finalist judge. "Madden took on one of the most pressing policy issues of the day—the mass incarceration of African American men—and exposed a critical piece of that puzzle at work in the nation's capital."

Project partners were WAMU, the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University, the Center For Investigative Reporting, and PRX.

The $5,000 Schorr award, sponsored by WBUR and Boston University, and funded by Jim and Nancy Bildner, recognizes a new generation of public radio journalists under the age of 35 seeking to inspire them to stretch the boundaries of the medium.

Each day/night of the Convention will feature speakers on specific elements of the constitution; learn more in the rules (PDF). No matter the speaker topics, members of the public may comment on any part(s) of the constitution.

I missed Steve Buttry's June 9 webinar Interactive Storytelling Tools. But generous guy that he is, he blogged his presentation, links to the tools mentioned, participant examples, and work done by his students in 2015; see Slides, links for interactive storytelling tools webinar. Head over to the blog and you will find recommendations including

As the DCist story points out, DC Public Library has similar tools and goals in Memory Lab to the Humanities Council of Washington D.C. Digital Museum. Both seek to collect local history with the active participation of DC residents and former residents.

Residents are asked to take four to five objects which tell your family's story to the Humanities Council; participants will create a brief oral history about their contributions. Those interested in participating should RSVP.

I would encourage DC Public Library and the Humanities Council to collaborate with other DC-based libraries and local museums to become a DPLA hub so that DC's rich history can be more widely available. I would also encourage individuals to share their digitized history on History Pin, a cool online tool where people can share stories, images, and videos.

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton is hosting the roundtable "Making the Best Use of D.C.'s Marinas and Rivers" Wednesday, June 15, 2016, at 6:00 pm at 200 I St SE (First Floor Multipurpose Room).
The purpose is for residents and river stakeholders to share their ideas and concerns with Norton and National Park Service National Capital Parks-East Superintendent Gopaul Noojibail.

Never thought I would see the day that Bob Malson was not a fixture in the Wilson Building or a leader in the health advocacy world. Whew, Malson has retired, but is not gone! Joan Lewis has taken the helm of the DC Hospital Association as Interim Chief Executive Officer and Malson is Senior Advisor to the board for legal and legislative advocacy matters.

Meredith Fascett, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for SMD 6D07, has organized an important meeting: Community Meeting on Emergency Preparedness in Case of a Train Derailment and Hazardous Chemical Spill. The event takes place Saturday, June 18, time TBD, at 200 I St SE.

Chris Geldart, HSEMA director, Tommy Wells, DOEE director, and a representative from FEMS, will address the broad issue of resident safety in an emergency and will answer these among other questions: What should you do in case of a CSX train derailment in the neighborhood? If there is a hazardous materials incident, should you shelter-in-place or evacuate? Where can you find accurate information during an emergency?

The New Columbia Statehood Commission has added a day to the Constitutional Convention to provide even more opportunity for the community to comment on the draft constitution. The Constitutional Convention will kick off Monday, June 13 at 6:00 pm at the DC Taxicab Commission (2235 Shannon Pl SE in Room 2032).

The D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center recently announced that Jennifer Netburn is the organization's Housing Initiative Attorney. In this role, Netburn will play an active role coordinating the Center's participation in the D.C. Right to Housing Initiative and will assist staffing two Center programs, the Landlord Tenant Resource Center and the Saturday Advice & Referral Clinic.

According to the email announcing the news,

Jennie comes to us from the D.C. Tenants' Rights Center, where she provided a variety of low-cost legal services, including representation, to tenants in disputes with their landlords. Prior to joining the D.C. Tenants’ Rights Center Jennie worked as a staff attorney for D.C. Law Students In Court, where she represented low-income tenants in Landlord Tenant Court. During law school Jennie worked on housing issues as a law clerk for Legal Counsel for the Elderly and the Legal Aid Society. Prior to law school Jennie helped to organize tenant associations as a trainer at Housing Counseling Services and worked on disability cases in various roles at Bread for the City.

Interested in history? Interested in learning about not commonly known things about Washington, DC? Take a look at the new blog Architect of the Capital. Author Elliot Carter writes about the "interesting hidden side of Washington, DC."

Friday, June 3, 2016

On Saturday, June 4 from 1:00 - 3:00 pm at Thurgood Marshall Academy PCS (2427 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave SE), the New Columbia Statehood Commission is hosting the second of four town halls for residents to learn about and comment on the draft constitution of the state of New Columbia. The public is encouraged to attend; RSVP online.

The SumOfUs A Progressive's Style Guide (PDF) is a rich resource of effective, sensible, and appropriate advice for communicators. The guide considers language in a number of issue areas―including age, disability, environment/science, immigration/refugees, sexual and domestic violence―and offers specific advice about what words and phrases to use and those to avoid and similarly, how to think about using respectful and appropriate imagery. It also links to other style guides.

Thursday, June 2, 2016

Learn about how dual language programs work and how they affect academic achievement for both native and non-native English speakers at the Saturday, June 4, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm event at Bell Multicultural High School (3101 16th St NW).

Panelists will discuss the value of linguistic and cultural competence for the new American family in today's global economy, where dual language programs, and ways that residents can help create more dual language programs in their community.

The event will be moderated by CNN and CNN En Español political contributor Maria Cardona. Panelists are:

The event will be simultaneously translated in Spanish and in English, and American Sign Language interpretation will be available. Light refreshment will be provided. Childcare will be provided by toddler storyteller Veronica Jimenez of Bloombars fame, and will be available on a first come first serve basis. If you anticipate needing childcare, email info@dcimmersion.org with the following information: number of children, children's ages, guardian name, and guardian phone number.

With so many extraordinary authors stepping through the doors of Politics & Prose week after week, we started thinking several years ago about how to preserve their events on video. Our first tentative step in this direction involved setting up a YouTube channel. In time we hired a staff videographer and now regularly record four or five author talks a week, showcasing them on the P&P channel.

The number of subscribers to that channel is close to topping 10,000. P&P’s videos have received nearly two million total views. We’ve taped more than 700 P&P-sponsored events, as well as interviews with some visiting authors. All the footage is skillfully filmed and edited in-house, a significant capability that’s unusual for a bookstore.

What you will find in the report relate to the FY 2015 financial activities of the city's 40 ANCs:

Total Funds Maintained by all ANCs as of September 30, 2015

FY 2015 Categories of Increases and Decreases in Expenditures

Summary of Receipts and Disbursements: FYs 2006 - 2015

FY 2015 Disbursement Summary by Ward and Category

FY 2015 Percentage of Available Funds Spent

ANC Savings Account Balances as of September 30, 2015

Allocation of the $677,688.00 FY 2015 ANC Appropriation

Summary of FY 2015 Quarterly Receipts and Disbursements

Readers will also find these tidbits (in the order they appear in the report):

"For FY 2016, ODCA reduced the number of expenditure categories from 24 to 9 and this change will be reflected in next year’s annual report. We felt that requiring ANC Commissioners to assign their expenses to 24 different categories was excessive and did not provide enough benefit to warrant the time spent recording and reviewing the data. The goal for the reduction in categories is to ease the administrative burden on ANC Commissioners while still providing useful information to citizens, the Council, and the executive agencies of the District of Columbia."

"Each year, we continue to find a significant number of ANCs who are not properly reconciling their checking accounts and quarterly reports. As a result, ANCs often report incorrect beginning and ending balances on their quarterly reports. For purposes of this annual report, ODCA used each ANC’s October 1, 2014 bank statement balance as the starting point for Appendix VI, the Summary of FY 2015 Quarterly Receipts and Disbursements."